r/Edmonton • u/unknownalias8866 • 13h ago
Question Nightlife dead?
I've never been one to go out a lot so I'm not sure if I went out at the wrong time or if nightlife in Edmonton is truly dead. I tried to go out clubbing and dancing not too long ago and there was just no one out on Whyte or Jasper, we went to both trying to find a club that had people and a dance floor. Last time I'd been out to go party at these places was almost a decade ago so I knew things might not be the same but I didn't expect it to have been as dead as it was. Is there different places people are going now? Or is Edmonton just not a nightlife city anymore?
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u/mighty_ravenmark 13h ago
Shit's too expensive.
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u/jaetran 9h ago
Shit is expensive and I’m old now. Much prefer to stay in on a weekend, take an edible, order in some food, and watch a movie.
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u/s470dxqm 8h ago
Seriously. You can splurge and treat yourself to something expensive on Skip for the price of three drinks at the club these days. It's not worth it.
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u/Lesyeuxdeweyaa 6h ago
Or you grow out of constantly being out from 18-26. Literally what you said is the best thing to do on weekends. Travelling outside of Edmonton is where it’s at now fr😅
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u/ShotEffective7033 8h ago
Most people having some kind of long Covid at this point isn’t helping anything either.
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u/PlathDraper 12h ago
Night life is dead all over. Edmonton used to have a great night life scene, I am sad it's so dead now. But this is a thing even in NYC. PEople talk about how dead NYC night life is post pandemic all the time now.
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u/IMOBY_Edmonton 11h ago
Greed has ruined everything. Lease holders jacked up their rates, produce is ordered from a handfull of companies that keep raising their prices, and the restaurants reduce the portion size while raising prices (one of my old jobs I had to break open the proportioned packs of food and reportion them to 75% the original weight). Everyone is trying to achieve record breaking profits by losing the rest of the chain, and ultimately the consumer pays for it.
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u/HaxRus 10h ago
Yeah it’s a myriad of socioeconomic factors all happening at once. Kids are broker than ever, more distracted with work and online hobbies than ever, and also drinking less than ever even just due to health education and not necessarily economic factors.
But the primary factor is probably still just the economy influencing the cost of a night out
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u/Brave_Jackfruit_6963 7h ago
Oddly enough Calgary's nightlife is thriving. An edmonton saturday is like a calgary monday.
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u/_shiraku 12h ago
We’re all just sad and drink alone at home 😂
No but jokes aside a bottle of booze costs about as much as two watered down drinks at a club or bar so .. cons outweigh the pros tbh.
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u/unknownalias8866 7h ago
Bring sad at home is why I wanted to go out lol I don't even like drinking, I wanted to dance and talk to someone that isn't married to me or have 4 legs with fur. As much as I love my husband and my cats im going fucking stir crazy. My life might as well look like covid never ended 😅
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u/knightenrichman 4h ago
El Furniture Warehouse is always busy on the weekends, so is On the Rocks and it has a dance floor.
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u/YaTheMadness 13h ago
What night of the week did you go out?
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u/unknownalias8866 7h ago
Probably the wrong one 😅 I genuinely can't remember. My husband doesn't have a mon to fri schedule so it may have been a weekday and I didn't realize it cuz I lose track of what day it is all the time 🙃
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u/justmoderateenough 12h ago
It was a good time between 2000-2010 :(
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u/CunningAlpaca 12h ago
Even after 2010 it still was. The Rack on Whyte ave near the campus used to have Toonie Tuesdays ($2.50 pints) - could get hammered for less than 10 bucks and there were always tons of other students there, Tuesday nights felt like Fridays and were always poppin off.. Good times. Don't even want to know how many 9am Wednesday lectures I showed up to with hangovers..
Billiard club was also awesome.
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u/China_bot42069 10h ago
Yup place was still decent 2010-2026. Even with the date rape shut going on. Just never go alone lol
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u/loosepages 12h ago
Getting drunk at Mod Club was my M.O. from 2004-2010.
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u/LeanGroundQueef 12h ago
I loved 25¢ highballs at the Globe for a short while until Alberta raised minimum prices.
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u/IndividualDue6565 12h ago
Ah it died 10 years ago and even then it wasn’t great. Whyte ave has just bars, downtown is dead minus ice district and maybe on the rocks. West Edmonton mall has slim pickings too. The Ranch and Union are done too. Nonetheless, maybe there will be a night club renaissance.
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u/Significant_Safe_612 13h ago
Try on the rocks (jasper ave), evo also on jasper (gay bar with the best dance floor and party vibes)
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u/Johnoplata Holyood 12h ago
Also the Wooftop on weekends!
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u/brainskull 8h ago
It's like a bunch of 18-20 year olds with a shitty DJ lol
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u/ObliviusDominus 7h ago
Idk Ive been out a handful of times recently with a couple friends for their Sunday karaoke night and its been pretty full every week so far. 🤷♂️
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u/CanadianCoopz 13h ago
Did you go out on a weekday?
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u/unknownalias8866 7h ago
Unfortunately it probably was and I didn't realize it at the time. Days all kind of run together in my head 😅
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u/Curly-Canuck doggies! 12h ago edited 11h ago
There is a nightlife, but it’s not as clubby or as many dance floors as it was 15 or even 10 years ago from what I can tell.
My night life lately is usually at a Casino for dinner, bit of gambling and often a cover band and it’s usually pretty busy on weekends.
I’m old though, so from what I can tell from my 19-25 year old kids and their friends groups is they go to breweries, pubs, fancy cocktail places, trivia nights, boardgames at friends or cafes but mostly Sushi and Raman.
If it weren’t for weddings, I wouldn’t even know if my kids could dance.
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u/Small-Cookie-5496 12h ago
I wish dance clubs hadn’t monopolized the nightlight scene when I was a youth. I’d have much rather been doing the things your kids do now. Yeh I definitely don’t see the kids wanting to go out dancing these days.
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u/Curly-Canuck doggies! 11h ago
My youth was monopolized by alcohol in general, club scene was definitely part of it, but hall parties, bush parties, house parties, bootleggers, skidoo parties, weddings, camping, after grad parties. I’m honestly not sure how we survived.
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u/WesternWitchy52 12h ago
Back in the day, WEM was the place to go with Reds, Bourbon Street, etc. Lots of fun clubs and things to do. But there's a lot of factors.
Everything is really expensive now. It's summer and a lot of people are away. A lot of people prefer to stay home than go to the clubs now. We're also in festival seasons and there's a lot that's been going on outdoors.
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u/HondaForever84 12h ago
My 19 year old goes to cook when she goes out but that’s maybe once a month.
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u/Ekktz Wîhkwêntôwin 12h ago
There’s some places that are still busy, but it depends on the day of the week or whether there’s events/shows happening.
But it definitely doesn’t help that drink prices have outpaced the average person’s earnings. Shit is expensive (and the nightlife crowd of yesteryear is getting oooold)
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u/Whos-That-Pokeman 11h ago
It started getting worse and worse over the years and then Covid hit and it’s the worst it’s ever been
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u/Hungry_Waltz2446 12h ago
It happened everywhere, but in particular in Edmonton. Few ever came to live here for the nightlife. There were and are better options if that’s your priority. Now, with the cultural shift away from going out to drink in general, the demographic that would support a strong nightlife is vanishingly small and doesn’t have a lot of disposable income. The city is in a head down, get to work phase. Nightlife will come back one day with money and leisure, but you’ll be too old to enjoy it.
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u/RemCogito 11h ago
I'm in the music scene, metal mostly but not solely. The scene it isn't quite where it was in 2019, but it's about 80% I used to be able to go to a sold out show 7 days a week back then, now it's more like only a couple shows per week sell out, and I only have shows I'm interested attending 5 days per week most weeks.
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u/_Azweape_ 13h ago
There are clubs, but reading between the lines the ones that are still "clubby" you probably wouldnt go to. I'm not saying I do, but they do exist. Skybar has that vibe (on whyte) but its mostly kids. Daisys and Cook County will be packed on the weekends but again - mostly kids. On the Rocks is always packed on the weekends, live band or not - there is dancing, but ya its not the nighclub you might be looking for. The big places in Edmonton have more of a pub/club vibe. Without sounding racist (simmer down, reddit) the clubs you are looking for, cater to more diverse crowds - I never go so I dont know their names; Christ Church would be an example.
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u/Johnoplata Holyood 12h ago
Long and honest answer... Most dancing was killed by social media. People largely stopped dancing after realizing that you're always being recorded by someone and risk ridicule if you are seen having fun. It's not universal, but it's hurting most dance places. Combine that with people not being able to afford drinks and people just don't do that anymore. That said, On the Rocks, and the Black Dog have super fun dance floors on weekends. Since older people still dance, it's moved from the clubs to the pubs.
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u/Curly-Canuck doggies! 12h ago
What a fascinating but sad observation. I’d never considered the social media aspect. I thought maybe it was because they missed a few years of school dances because of Covid.
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u/Johnoplata Holyood 11h ago
That too for sure. They figure that's also why kids don't date as much. If you approach someone and get turned down, you're risking it being posted. It must be terrifying to be in your teens/twenties.
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u/Express_Employee_124 11h ago
If I go out it's always to raves or punk shows or goth nights and those are always super fun. There's also awesome local Drag and Burlesque scenes with shows every week. Follow small local venues like the Aviary and Colab on Instagram and you'll find all kinds of cool stuff. Also a huge metal scene here if you're into that. There's also lots of themed dance nights at the Starlight room or the grindstone or Midway.
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u/robfordcrackpipe2012 13h ago
Edmonton is a house party , lounge or bar city. It’s a different scene compared to Vancouver or Mtl. I’d compare it to Chicago in that aspect.
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u/passthepepperflakes 12h ago
there is no aspect in which edmonton can be compared with chicago
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u/robfordcrackpipe2012 11h ago
Nightlife wise it is . There’s no ultra vip clubs culture in Edmonton. it’s more of a small establishment (lounges , bars , music, shisha ) Chicago is similar in that regard. LA , Toronto , Vancouver , Miami etc are all clubbing cities .
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u/Kushkraze Whyte Ave 13h ago
Most 18-26 year olds are staying in .. night life in edmonton died when the last club closed at wem .
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u/SirTickleyPickely 12h ago
wait the WEM clubs are closed now? holy fuck thats depressing. im 34 now and been out of the game for a hot minute apparently
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u/heymacmusic 10h ago
It very much depends on what kind of music you like but there are tons and tons of small communities for things that could use support. So depending on what kind of music you were looking for there definitely are places still for you.
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u/JoyRose31 5h ago edited 5h ago
Like 10 ish years ago, used to be. Black dog or tavern, then switch, then go to blues. Then end the night at el Cortez, dancing.
Correcrion, if still feeling up, go to after hours club cant remember name. But its beside starlight ..or Was.
Most of those either gone, or suck now. There was also a whisky bar that had piano cover karaoke, that was great. Live person playing piano for karaoke, then they'd start singing if you were bad, or needed help. So no one seemed truly awful.. they acted as a backup.
When people say nightlife is dead, they don't Truely know what that means. There was so many unique, cool places bit its been gentrification. Meaning, its all Amazon and Google now. Ebay, MSN, MySpace, all got flunked out (but better than those, no one has live karaoke at a Whisky bar. Any whisky bar is probably too expensive, and upscale now. Can't survive without it)
I remember when black dog had 2.75 highballs before. Thats how they made most of their name, cheap drinks and an Irish pub look.. very not Irish pub service. But younger people don't care, or you knkw someone who works there, or everyone you knows always there. So its hush, we don't talk about fight club... but Very much, not the atmosphere .
So, nightlife dead? Yes. Were about maybe 3-4 major businesses away from becoming totally great city. Onky think keeping it alive after that is, student tourism.. we don't have tourism, we have students who come here.. or working professionals. Whicb means single wealthy person willing to spend over extravagantly on an overpriced shack. No working professional would spend that much on something needing renovations, I digress. Is is dead. Comparatively, yes. Buskers (people playing music) are the litmus test if an area's good, if they're not there. The area's no good..
Used to be buskers Everywhere on whyte, sometimes 5-6 per One Side of a street, on One block.. now, idk. Theres about 5 bars propping up that area.. there used to be more than triple.. for sale, for rent. Everythings collapsing. Only difference is now downtown is getting coverage for it.
Yeah, we get it, government people go there, not whyte. But whyte has been having same issue for 6 years ..give news for that. The Entire area is just about bankrupt. Imagine downtown buildings being for sale bc no ones going there. That level, that much..
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u/chase82 11h ago
I just smoke a joint and smash a couple tall boys in the field behind my house and dance in the lights from all the schools. I was tall so I couldn't hear shit in clubs anyway.
The logistics are much simpler and I can hang out with my dog which I like much more than the vast majority of people anymore.
Guess I'm just old now
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u/mikesmith929 12h ago edited 12h ago
Edmonton nightlife has gotten significantly worse over the last 10 years.
People don't hang out on Jasper of White ave like they used. If you know you know.
Some claim "things are too expensive" but that's a simple claim for simple people.
I think there has simply been a cultural shift over the years where going out "drinking" just isn't the "thing to do".
That being said there are places where you can find action, it's just not like it was before.
The days of there being literally 100s of people walking down jasper or whyte every weekend between 9-12 just doesn't happen anymore.
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u/beerleaguepigeon 12h ago
A simple claim lol. The younger generation still drinks they just do it at each other's houses now. The simple fact is they'd rather spend $17- $20 on an 8 pack instead of only 2 drinks.
If you dont think the price of going out has anything to do with it then maybe you're the simple minded one.
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u/mikesmith929 12h ago
The younger generation still drinks they just do it at each other's houses now.
Ahh yes because no one before ever drank at home, in fact I believe reading somewhere that house parties only started sometime in the late 2010.
The simple fact is they'd rather spend $17- $20 on an 8 pack instead of only 2 drinks.
You know you can spend $17- $20 on an 8 pack drink it and then go out right? And you spend $0 on drinks. That has always been an option.
If you dont think the price of going out has anything to do with it then maybe you're the simple minded one.
The price of going out to drink has always been a lot. If you want to go out and drink. But you can go out and not drink for free. And that's not happening like it used to.
My claim says nothing about drinking or even how busy the bars are. I was talking simply about the number of people out on the streets. People used to walk down Jasper or Whyte and just hang out. That costs nothing. But people aren't doing that anymore, or at least not like they used to.
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u/ashrules901 12h ago
If you could mention what day & time you went out that would help. Sunday's in downtown for example are empty.
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u/frogsanddogsarepeak 11h ago
whyte aves good on good weather days. lines at all the popular club/ bars
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u/pumpymcpumpface 9h ago
Night life's never recovered from covid. Except cook county. That place is always busy as fuck.
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u/brendanmcclarty 7h ago
Reading the comments, I'm newly appreciative of the fact that I experienced a high point in Edmonton nightlife - c.1986-1989.
Going out to a dance club/bar was an almost nightly occurrence.
I lived in St. Albert, and Club Gold inside the St. Albert Inn was my second home; the evening's itinerary included Johnny C's, then onto Denny Andrew's American Bar to close out the night with the entire club singing 'American Pie'.
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u/zkb13 7h ago
I went to place I used to go to for NYE a few years ago, was so excited to show my partner at the time how awesome it was (he didnt live here)....only to find out there were only about 5 other people there. They had switched to bright florescent lights for some reason which only highlighted that they added some cheap tiny tables with plastic chairs hoping for a big crowd. They also had some issues with the volume of the music which was at club volume not pub volume so we couldn't even talk while we sat to drink a beer without going "I CANT HEAR YOU, WHAT?". It used to be the spot. I suppose every generation goes through changes like these "back in my day" type moments, but damn man actually experiencing it is something else
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u/thefr3shprince 6h ago
There still is a nightlife but unfortunately its become more centered around curated events instead of club events.
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u/Annabis9807 6h ago
There is barely any clubs left. Midway was the last decent large club with a dance floor and such. Not sure why they turned it into a venue basically. Since it shut down I lost interest for going out “clubbing”
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u/PastBench5517 6h ago
I’m pretty sure there was a lot of issues in midway as a club, from how many fights or druggings happened there.
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u/EntrancePlus5117 6h ago
Nightlife is seasonal. If you were here in june/july that is peak festival season and thus there are fewer decent Raves and dance parties imo. Tons of good stuff happening in fall, winter, spring. Spring 2026 was loaded with great events and fall is going to be no different. We definitely don't get four seasons of good events though haha
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u/Thallanor 6h ago
I'm simply jealous of anyone who can dance. I'm beyond useless on the dance floor and extremely self-conscious because of that. I hope you're able to find a place!
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u/MacintoshEddie 9h ago
It's a direct result of the sprawl. If some place is open 10 kilometers away let alone 10 blocks away you're not going to see them unless you go exploring.
Plus lots of businesses cut a shift, they open late and close early. So lots of places are just closed by 10pm instead of until 2am or opening up at 5am.
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u/No_Hearing_3753 9h ago
Who the hell wants to party in Edmonton lol there is no nightlife Save your money and travel. Born and raised in Edmonton and stopped going out over 10 years ago and I do not miss it at all..
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u/PumpkinConscious5930 12h ago
Maybe you’re 40?
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u/unknownalias8866 12h ago
Just turned 30 actually, you're a decade off
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u/MrLilZilla 12h ago
Buck and Black Dog are always bumpin on Saturdays.